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[Data_Center: Short_Name='CA/NRCAN/ESS/GC/CCRS/GEO']

East-Central Labrador Ecological Land Survey, Canada

Entry ID:
Canada_GeoGratis_ECLabEcoLanSur

Summary

Abstract:
The Labrador Ecological Land Survey (ELS) was one of the earlier land surveys which employed the methods of ecological land classification developed in the 1950s. The survey was conducted in the late 70's, over a 2-3 year period, with the main results becoming available in 1981. The survey was performed on behalf of the Newfoundland Department of Forest Resources and Lands, ... with much involvement of the Lands Directorate of Environment Canada and other private sector firms including Beak Consultants and Hunter and Associates.

The ELS survey, whose results were mapped at a scale of 125,000, is based on a hierarchical system of ecological land regions, land districts and land sections. The finest division, or "ecosection", which forms the basic building blocks of the survey, is a unit of land characterized by a re-occurring pattern of landforms, soils and vegetation. The basic terrain and ecological components of an ELS at this mapping scale are terrain, drainage, vegetation and water. For the Labrador ELS, all four of these components were mapped using a "complexed" notation to account for the multiple occurrence of some components in each ecosection.

The vegetation classification relates to both broad-scale and local vegetation phenomena. The classification names broad-scale vegetation types as "Vegetation Classes" and qualifies by more detailed, local or regional adjectives called "Vegetation Cover Types". The drainage classification is based upon the Canadian System of Soil Classification, with minor modification. The terrain classification basically follows systems that were developed by the Geological Survey of Canada in conjunction with the Canada Soil Survey Committee. "Genetic Terrain Classes" are defined and later qualified by "Surface Expressions". The water component classification indicates the proportion of each ecosystem covered with water bodies. Water bodies and streams and rivers are described, along with water quality characteristics for water bodies, patterns for stream channels, and shoreline form for shoreline features.

The survey is focussed on the East-Central part of Labrador, in an area which surrounds Lake Melville and Groswater Bay, including most of the Mealy Mountains area to the south, the Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the mouth of the Churchill River to the west, and a vast area extending to the 55th parallel to the north. The mapped results extend over sixteen 1:125,000 scale map sheets, numbered according to the 013 NTS block system and including the following quadrant tiles:

The digital data are provided on a mapsheet by mapsheet basis, in latitude/longitude coordinates without any shoreline, or as a mosaic of all mapsheets, in a Transverse Mercator projection, with an integrated shoreline making the distinction between land and water areas.1) To distribute the digital contents of the Canada Geographic Information System archives. 2) To provide an example of an earlier ecological land survey.